Deal Alert: The Saks Sale
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This is historically one of the best sales of the year, both for Saks but also kind of year-round — in the past I've made a real killing. Some of the things to look for:
– Cole Haan bags and shoes
– Stuart Weitzman bags and shoes
– Theory dresses and suiting pieces
– Kate Spade bags & shoes, jewelry, and clothes
– DvF dresses and shoes (lots of shoes marked under $100)
– Lots of great shoes — a big selection of Hunter and Belle by Sigerson Morrison
But the real finds here fall into the “lucky sizes” category — dresses marked from $695 down to $125, pants marked from $975 down to $215… so definitely look to see what's left in your size. I recommend sorting by “top rated” instead of by price, at least if you only have a second or two to take a look. Also, don't forget — free shipping and free returns with code HOLIDAY.
I ran with Myrna and I am SO TIRED! FOOEY! I now have to do 45 minutes on Myrna’s Exercycle before she comes back. She took away my cookies and is makeing me eat CARROT sticks. FOOEY! But if I get the $500 I will give Myrna $100. Yay!
Kat, it might just be me, but the first three links all took me to the Stuart Weitzman page.
me too
Hello Ladies!!
My DH and I are planning a 14 hour road trip for New Year’s. Does anyone have any favorite tips or supplies for long car rides? I am planning on downloading some movies on my Kindle and books on tape, but would appreciate any other helpful tips you all may have!
I always recommend packing healthy snacks and lunches – I feel so gross after sitting in the car all day, and eating lots of fast food doesn’t help. I just toss together a cooler full of cut fruit and veggies, hummus, peanut butter, cheese sandwiches, etc. When we stop for gas, I’ll pick up a beverage at the gas station – coffee, iced tea, iced tea, juice – something that I wouldn’t normally buy. Having something fun to drink also helps stay alert when driving.
If the driver can stay awake on his/her own, bring a full-size pillow (not a little travel pillow) to stuff in the corner of the passenger seat to make sleeping more comfortable. Bring a fleece blanket so you can keep the car cool (to avoid carsickness and getting sleepy from the heat).
DH and I often listen to musicals that we know and love – singing along passes the time and keeps us alert. In fact, “Wicked” and “Last Five Years” are our “travel musicals” that we only listen to when driving. Same thing with David Sedaris, Louis C.K. and Mitch Hedberg.
I can deal with sitting/driving for so long better if I’ve had a good workout less than 2 days before setting out, even if I’ve been irregular about working out otherwise. Similarly, I like to stretch and do some simple exercises at rest stops along the way. Bon voyage!
When we do a long road trip, we pack a cooler with drinks and snacks, and put it behind one of the front seats so it is easily accessible while you are driving. Wear comfy driving shoes, and make sure you have 2 car charges, 1 for each of your phones.
In the back of the car, keep a can of fix-a-flat or two (can of air/hole sealer that you can use to get to the nearest place to change the tire), battery cables, and AAA card or phone number for whatever roadside service company you use. Depending on the area, an extra can of gas (that’s for our extremely rural and/or bad weather jaunts). If you might need them, tire chains/cables. I keep a Thomas Guide for the areas I frequently travel, too – g o o g l e maps is no help if there is no signal where you are.
I always download a few new albums or movies for the trip, but we are usually pretty entertained “people watching” from the car and never get bored. Have fun!
Thank you both! Great suggestions.
Definitely take a reusable water bottle. My kleen kanteen stays in the drink holder the entire time.
Audiobooks are a huge help on long car trips.
Hey Petunia! Definitely audiobooks! Or even read to each other. My ex and I once read The Princess Bride on a road trip and it was great. Also Under the Tuscan Sun, which has a lot of descriptive imagery and great food.
Have a great trip. And thanks for the drink tip. That’s what all of my guests on Christmas Day wanted! It was a big hit.
Thank you NOLA! I checked out four audiobooks from the library last night, including some David Sedaris, which should keep us both laughing for the trip.
I am so glad the drink was a hit. Hope y’all have a Happy New Year!
Love podcasts – Radiolab and This American Life are my favorites!
Also, get out and walk for a few minutes every few hours. I used to try to drive until we ran out of gas, refill, back on the road, repeat in order to save time on road trips. Then, we started stopping every few hours after I had a blood clot and we were going on a 12 hour drive. It really doesn’t add much time over the course of a long trip and I feel SO MUCH BETTER when we arrive.
Slight rant:
I am pretty much the female version of Dude With No Furniture – in that I have no furniture thanks to simultaneously losing my job and becoming the victim of a major bedbug infestation. Obviously I got rid of everything before I came back home, and since I moved to Chicago I’ve been sleeping on an air mattress, waiting patiently for the Room and Board annual clearance sale.
Well, it’s arrived, and the only Queen sized bed is well out of my price range – it would be cheaper to buy the same bed in natural steel at full price than it is to buy this bed. And the reason I’m only really considering R&B is because I have a $200 gift card that will significantly defray the cost of the bed.
Anyway, I send my mother a text saying nothing’s on sale and I’ll probably end up buying something full price, and she replies saying not to rush into anything because “you never know what might pop up after the 1st.” I reply with “pop up?” because I can’t tell if she means I have another gift card coming or if she thinks R&B will be adding more furniture to the sale (they won’t. It’s only the furniture they’ve discontinued.)
She doesn’t reply, of course, because who needs clarity?
Admittedly a lot of my annoyance is because 1) I am really, really tired of sleeping on the air mattress and 2) I am really, really tired in general, possibly FROM sleeping on the air mattress. There’s probably a significant dose of 3) I really hate cryptic text messages and emails and 4) I get annoyed when people don’t respond and explain what the hell they mean.
Which my parents are the champions of. Just, argh.
You need a bed! I have no idea your price range but you can get a decent mattress, box spring and metal frame from Sleepy’s for around $200. Google coupon codes, you can usually stack them. I ordered a bed for a guest room that way and also got free shipping. The set is perfectly comfortable and I’ve slept on it when I’ve been sick so my husband could sleep on the good bed. You don’t need a headboard/footboard to look like you have furniture. Hang some cheap wall art above the bed in lieu of a board. At least you will have a bed!!! Sell the gift card and use the proceeds to buy something cheaper.
I prefer to try out the mattress – I ordered online for my last one and ugh, it was awful – and there aren’t any Sleepy’s in Chicago…but I will probably be going in to a store this weekend to get the mattress at least. I can do without a frame for a few weeks until I find something I like, but I can’t do this air mattress thing anymore. There’s both a Back to Bed and an American Mattress close to my bus line.
The Sleepy’s mattress I got for my first bed in NY was awesome, though.
So try out a mattress! Most mattress places give you a couple months and will pick up and exchange your mattress free of charge if you don’t like it. If its cold where you are, put it on a bunch of milk crates or paint buckets or something equally cheap. You’ve got I get good sleep–especially if you’re dealing with vagueness when you’re trying to make a decision!
Good sleep is so important. I am sorry you’re going through this. You didn’t ask for a solution, really, but when you say “bed” do you mean a bed frame or a mattress/ box spring or both? It sounds like both. I am just curious because I have always used a metal bed frame (which is super cheap) and then a mattress and box spring (less cheap, obvs). I might suggest, if Chicago has one of these stores, hitting up a Denver Mattress Company. I have two mattresses from there that I love, and they are significantly less expensive than many of the other stores I have visited. If you like a firm mattress, I highly recommend the “Dr’s Choice” model, if it’s still called by that name.
I recently saw a little project where you staple fabric around the box spring, which is prettier than a bed skirt, and maybe cheaper. I have entertained the thought of doing that and then getting a neat headboard at TJ Maxx, avoiding having to buy a bed frame altogether.
Sidenote: My dad is the king of vague, and frequently abandoned, financially-relevant promises. I can’t tell you the number of times that he has offered to or even promised to pay for something or buy something for me, my DH, my sister, my mom… only to forget he’s done so, leaving us feeling a little helpless. Now, we don’t ever count on him to follow through, but it’s no less irksome.
Or Ikea! Is there an Ikea close to you? I bet you could get a nice bed and mattress for cheap there. :)
It’s definitely both, and I’m definitely buying a mattress very, very soon. Honestly, I don’t have any objection to buying the bed full price – it’s a $799 bed, so $599 once I apply the gift card – I am just extra annoyed at the vagueness, because if I’m getting extra help, awesome, I’ll deal with the (REAL) mattress on the floor for a couple more weeks. If not, then there is no reason to wait, because it’s not like it’s going to get any cheaper.
Mostly the air mattress just needs to go. It really does.
Diana: There is an Ikea, but I’m single and alone in the city, so I’d really can’t get something I’m going to have to assemble. I’ve done the furniture assembly thing before, and it just ends in annoyed shrieks and tears of rage with me.
There’s also the fact that they’d have to deliver it, and Ikea seriously gouges you on that one. I think it cost as much as the furniture to have my last Ikea order delivered.
Ikeas awesome. Ikea delivery stinks.
It is truly terrible. I made the mistake of ordering a bookcase from them once. Fantastically inexpensive bookcase for the low, low delivery price of $100! The bookcase was approximately $29.
I ordered a different one from Office Max.
There are tons of mattress places in every town.
Most mattresses include the cost of a box spring and a metal bed frame. If you don’t want a bed skirt, then stick a fitted sheet on the box spring. Done. (I learned that trick from Martha Stewart.)
Get yourself a bed, girl. No one deserves to sleep on an air mattress more than like 1 night in a row. Even if your mom gives you another gift card (after the 1st? who gives you presents on the 1st?) then spend it on something you want rather than need.
Re: IKEA delivery – I recently discovered that my local Home Depot will rent a massive pick-up truck for 75 minutes for $20. It was perfect for bringing home a new TV. I bet your local Home Depot rents a truck too, so you can skip crap delivery.
You’re not alone if there’s a corpor3tt3 nearby. There are awesome ladies of this blog in Chicago. We can be bribed with wine and cookies. I for one love assembling Ikea furniture.
I agree with everyone else that you just need a metal bed frame, which is under $100. I had one for years. You can class up the metal frame via either a DIY headboard that you mount to the wall (go see Apartment Therapy – they look great and are actually easy) or buying an inexpensive headboard that attaches to any standard metal frame.
Consider Costco.com for mattresses. Free delivery, and you can return it to the store if you don’t like it. I do agree that you should go try on lots of mattresses though. Also know that mattress stores have absurd markups, so you can get them down to about half of the “sale” price. Yes, half. Play them off each other and bargain hard. This time of year is perfect – they’re all going to be very, very eager to make one more sale in 2012 and keep their sales figures up.
You can also get a nicer-looking plain wood bed frame, as opposed to metal, for about $100.
Hey OP I am in Chicago and can help you out if needed. I made trips to ikea by public transportation when I first moved here and got all the furniture home delivered for flat fees of 70$ for everything (bed/couch/mattress/dinning table etc etc). Then I slowly assembled it ,yself with help from doorman for the bed. Big fan of ikea here for someone on a budget, it always lasts long enough for me and sells quickly on Craigslist when you want to upgrade.
AJ, we’ve all responded to the bed issue, but there is also the relationship thing. Can bring it up in a chatty way when you’re already talking, and let her know that you’re making your decision based on her response? If you’re likely to lose your cool, then it’s probably better not to talk abou it at all, but I can certainly see how you need to know. If you can ask calmly and maybe even rub her about keeping you hanging, and do it a few more times, who knows, you might even she a change in her. But don’t promise yourself that–can’t control anyone but you
This. It´s time to be an adult and talk straight. Tell your mom that you are about to invest in a bed, and if she knows anything that might influence this investment, she better speak up now. If she still doesn´t give you a straight answer, go ahead with your plans. Then if something indeed does pop up after the 1st, the only one who will look stupid and immature is her.
(If it´s another gift card at R&B, maybe you can spend it on swanky bedding?)
In other words, kick the ball into her court as hard as you can.
Hi everyone – I actually just put a follow-up comment in today’s post, which is mysteriously waiting moderation, despite a lack of brand names or mentioning of ‘r e t t e. I don’t even ask anymore.
But to make a short story even shorter, I called last night on the way home and told them that I was going mattress shopping this weekend because the air mattress was affecting my sleep cycle, and my parents agreed that was a good idea.
At this point I’m just assuming that either my sister set them straight on the nature of the sale or I needed to say the magic words about sleep quality. Either way, a trip to Back to Bed is happening Saturday morning.
Shameless thread jack:
I am 25 and attractive, but my nose is a little too large for my face. I have always been self-conscious about it and anxious when people take photos of me. Long story short – I asked myself if the cost of getting my nose done would be worth not having to be self-conscious anymore and realized the answer – FOR ME – is yes. For the first time in my life, I can afford it (with a little discipline, of course) and can truly say I’d do it for myself, not anyone else (I am generally regarded as pretty, have been in a very long-term relationship, am no longer in high school, etc.). I also had surgery (that was medically necessary but also improved my appearance) on my jaw when I was 21, so I have realistic expectations of what the results would be.
So, hive: anyone been through this and have advice (or doctor recs in NYC)? I’ve just begun researching surgeons and it’s daunting. I need to make a spreadsheet, for sure. Also, how did you tell people, and did anyone react negatively? Lastly, please no judgement – this is a choice I’m making, not one I’d oppose on anyone else :) Thanks in advance!
I think that’s great! The only thing I would ever consider doing is jaw surgery to fix my overbite, which is partially cosmetic and partially to fix my bite. I didn’t do it because of the amount of time my jaw would be wired shut, along with probably having to realign my teeth after with braces. I wish I had done it when I was 18, but now that I’m 30 I’ve given up on that. Basically I’m too chicken!
My point there is…if it is worth it to you, do it! I could give you great recs for SoCal, but I don’t know anyone in NYC. I have lots of friends that have done tummy tucks and other cosmetic things, and the reactions I’ve always seen are along the lines of “good for you, maybe I should do that…”
Good luck!
I had jaw surgery in my late 20s. While the recovery was a rough month, it was definitely worth it.
My fiance had a rhinoplasty as part of a different surgery.
You don’t owe anyone an explanation. The only thing they need to know is, “I had surgery.” If it’s a close friend, you can tell them that you had surgery on your face.
It’s also ok to lie in this situation and tell people you had polyps on your sinuses or something. No one needs to know about this, and you don’t need to feel bad about it.
I have a really good friend who did this, but it was before we knew each other, so I’m not sure how she handled questions. The only advice I’d offer is that I think she had some complicated feelings about how she looked afterwards – it took a significant amount of time for her to feel like herself again, even though she’s very happy now with how she looks. You might not have that experience, but just a thought to be prepared for some ups and downs while you adjust.
New York Magazine does an annual “Best Doctors” list which I am sure they post online. It is done by a third party, independent research firm, so it’s not a “pay to be listed” ad. You should find the rhinoplasty section and go for consults with a few doctors. Many years ago, I thought I wanted a certain procedure and it took only a few consults for me to decide I was not quite ready. So, even just going to speak with a doctor or two and their staffs might help you sort through your conflicted emotions. It really helped me! Good luck!
I had mine done at 16 (after two terrible breaks). They took the bump out (which was there pre-break) and I would absolutely do it again. My nose is by no means tiny but fit my face so much better and I don’t cringe when I see myself in profile. One thing to remember, your nose can be swollen for up to a year (mine definitely was) so the post-surgery shape will change a bit.
Do your research. Visit more than one doctor. You should feel comfortable with the doctor (and not like (s)he is examining you for other flaws.
Late to the party here. I had mine done two years ago for cosmetic reasons—there was nothing actually wrong with my nose. I did it on the Friday before Thanksgiving, took off Thanksgiving week, and returned to work the following Monday. I told people I was having “nasal surgery,” which made people feel very sorry for me because they all think that sounds really painful and no one asked more questions. This was also a good thing for me to say because I still had a small bandage on when I returned to work. Also, just before I went in, I changed my haircut so any differences in my appearance could be credited to the new hair.
I am thrilled I did it. My nose is not small now, but I have a large face (chipmunk cheeks and large forehead) so a small nose would have looked stupid. I had wanted it done since I was in middle school and only wish I’d done it sooner. While I was at it, I also had my face resurfaced (laser) to reduce acne scars—that was my mom’s suggestion and a good one.
I only had work done on the outside and it really was not painful at all—after the first night, I only took Advil.
If this is something that’s important to you, go for it. Sorry, I’m not in NYC so I can’t suggest a doc. But I do agree you should ask people you know for references and see several docs (look at their before and after pics too) and then make a decision.
I did it about a year back and am delighted with the results. I look exactly the same from the front but the profile is much improved. What’s funny is that my nose would probably still be regarded as somewhat big, but I’m much happier with it. Like someone above, had I gone smaller I’d have looked silly.
Anyway – unbelievably, not a single person has seem to have noticed. Other than my immediate family, I believe no one knows.
The recovery was great. It took about a week to get back to normal.
Thanks, everyone, for such great advice and support. Honestly, just writing the original post was cathartic because I haven’t told anyone about this yet. Well check out the Best Doctors list and make some consultations!